Welcome to Downsend School

Year 8 had an amazing time at the New Victoria Theatre in Woking, watching & Juliet. This vibrant musical blends Shakespeare with hits from Britney Spears, Katy Perry, and Backstreet Boys! This trip perfectly tied into their Romeo & Juliet studies in Drama while being a fun and inspiring experience!

#downsendschool #wearecognita #andjuliet #wokingtheatre #woking #privateschool #surreyschools #enrichment #drama #romeoandjuliet #shakespeare

Every year, we welcome Senior students from our Cognita sister schools in Chile to join our school community for a few days. Paired with our students, they get to learn, share, and experience each other’s cultures firsthand.

We asked Poppy, a Year 10 student, what she thinks about this unique opportunity:

“Recently, we had the opportunity to welcome students from Chile to our school, which I thought was a fantastic way to showcase the Spanish skills we`ve developed throughout our GCSE course. It also broadened our global perspective. They taught us about their home country and introduced us to new phrases in Spanish. Spending a week with them was a brilliant experience - it gave us insight into what it was like for them to immerse themselves in our daily life at Downsend. We were amazed by their impressive English skills; they spoke so fluently, which was really inspiring!
For them, it was also eye-opening to experience subjects they had never studied before, giving them a glimpse into the differences in our education system. From the very beginning, they were so friendly and kind, despite us being complete strangers at first. By the end of the week, it felt as though we had known each other forever."

#downsendschool #wearecognita #cognitaschools #seniorschool #privateschool #independentschool #surreyschools #globalperspective #surreyhills #boxhill #gcse2025

Year 2 had an amazing adventure at the Living Rainforest! As part of their learning about the Amazon and The Great Kapok Tree by Lynne Cherry, they got up close with incredible rainforest animals like a sloth, armadillo, carpet snake, turtles, a dwarf caiman, and a toucan!

They also experienced the heat and humidity of the rainforest, saw giant leaves, vibrant flowers, and towering trees—just like in the real Amazon! 🌺🌳✨

#downsendschool #littledownsend #prepep #surreyschools #surreynursery #wearecognita #livingrainforest #lynnecherry #thegreatkapoktree

What a great weekend of swimming success for Downsend!

On Friday, our Senior Swimmers competed in the Grand Final of the Schools Swimming Super League, going head-to-head with 20 schools from across the South East. After a hard-fought series, we proudly finished 3rd in the B final! A special shoutout to our Year 7 & 8 teams, who dominated their section and brought home two shields for the trophy cabinet!

For our Year 11s, this was their last gala with Downsend—some have been with us since Year 4! We wish them all the best on their next journey.

Then on Saturday, our Junior Swimmers hit the pool for the first round of the ESSA Primary Relay competition. After perfecting our `safe but fast` changeovers, our swimmers put on a spectacular display of starts, transitions, and racing. With outstanding performances and strong times, they competed fiercely against schools from across the county!

A massive thank you to all our swimmers, parents, and supporters! We’re already excited for next year’s competitions!

#downsendschool #wearecognita #juniorschool #seniorschool #privateschool #swimminggala #swimingcompetition #surreyswimming

Year 6 had an incredible time at the Horniman Museum in London last Monday! Blessed with beautiful weather they explored the wonders of animal adaptations and evolution.

The highlight? A hands-on workshop where the children handled real fossils and taxidermied animals—bringing their learning to life!

They also visited the museum’s renowned aquarium, 🐠🐡home to the first-ever successfully regenerated coral 🪸in captivity. And of course, the magical butterfly house, where we got up close with these stunning creatures! 🦋

#downsendschool #wearecognita #london #selondon #juniorschool #surreyschools #sciencetrip #hornimanmuseum #aquarium @hornimanmuseumgardens

🌸✨ Our Year 8 students had an amazing time at a workshop with The Japan Society recently! 🇯🇵 From mastering Japanese writing to crafting stunning origami, they explored the beauty of Japanese culture. A huge thank you for the insightful Q&A and an incredible experience!

#downsendschool #wearecognita ##JapanSociety #Origami #JapaneseWriting #seniorschool #privateschool #independentschool #surreyschools #surreyhills #boxhill #japan #globalcitizen #globalculture